ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

An adaptation of his biography for Adult Beginners

HIS TIME

Robert is a Victorian writer

HIS LIFE • Robert was born in Edinburgh ( Scotland) in 1850.

• His family is wealthy. They have a good position.

When he is 12, he travels to France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and Italy

on a five month holiday.

•Robert is a sickly child. He

is exceedingly thin and

frail, and he suffers with

coughs and fevers.

• He is very close to his father• When he is sixteen he writes The

Pentland Rising, a story based on an historical event. His father pays for its publication.

 Robert Louis Stevenson goes to Edinburgh University. He starts to study engineering,

but he doesn’t like it so he changes to law.However, he still wants to be a writer. In 1876 he goes on a

canoeing trip to Belgium and France with friend.

He keeps a journal of his travels and uses it to

form the basis of his first book, An Inland Voyage.

In France, Stevenson meets an American woman called Fanny Osbourne. He falls in love with her.

Fanny is married to Sam Osbourne. However, they begin to live as lovers.

In 1878 Fanny travels back to her husband.

In 1879, Robert Louis Stevenson travels all the way from Britain to America to see Fanny Osbourne, and they get married in 1880.

They decide to live in Britain and set up home

with Fanny’s twelve year old son (from her previous marriage), Lloyd.

Fanny and Lloyd are very important in Robert’s life and an inspiration for his writings.

In 1881 the Stevenson family goes on holiday in Scotland. It rains for days on end, and to pass the time Lloyd draws a map of an imaginary island. The map makes Robert Louis Stevenson think of pirates and treasure, and inspires him to write Treasure Island.

Treasure island is first published as a book in 1883. It is very successful. He is now a well-known writer.

Robert Louis Stevenson continues to experience health problems as an adult. He suffers with chest infections and is often so ill he can’t leave his bed.

In 1886 he writes both The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Kidnapped.

From 1888 to 1890, the Stevenson family spends two years sailing around the Pacific Ocean islands.

Robert Louis Stevenson decides to build a house in the island of Upolu, in Western Samoa.

• He continues writing, but it is increasingly difficult as his illness becomes worse.

In December 1894, Robert Louis Stevenson dies. He is only 44 years old. His body is buried on Mount Vaea, Upolu.

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Information taken from Wikipedia.